A new short stay Mental health unit has opened at the Royal University Hospital.

Karen Kawula, director of mental health inpatient services with the Saskatchewan Health Authority says the 7 bed unit will be a specialized until to address patient care needs for people that require a psychiatric stay of 7 days or less. She says it will allow the SHA to focus the Les and Irene Dube Centre, and its 54 beds, for people that require a longer stay. “This will ensure we can spend time needed with those patients, and then through the short stay unit we can look at helping them stabilize, transitioning from hospital, back into community.”

Kawula says a person coming through the emergency department would be assessed for their psychiatric needs and at that time it would be determined whether they need a short term or long term stay, depending on their condition. Kawula says people could potentially transition from the short stay unit to the Dube Centre, if required.

Kawula suggests by having the additional beds there will be more opportunities to access a bed at the Dube Centre or short term unit much quicker than before. Previously, over-capacity issues saw people having to wait in the Emergency Department for long periods, to access a bed. Kawula believes in the past year these wait times have been reduced when it comes to getting people a bed in the Dube Centre.  She adds the short stay unit, along with 24 hour psychiatric nursing care in the emergency department and community supports will continue to help with the length of stay in ER’s. Kawula says there is always more to do within health care and mental health, but she really wants to celebrate the work that has been done by all teams involved .

The short stay unit was created within vacant space that was made available during the construction of the new RUH adult emergency department. Since 2018 a temporary Mental Health Assessment Unit has filled the role of a flex space while planning and construction was being completed.  Construction on the short stay unit began in August of 2020.  Funding for the renovation was $1.1 million, with a further $1.55 million in annual funding required.

The new unit will contain 7 beds and will staff two nurses providing 24/7 coverage, two continuing Care Aides (16 hours/day coverage) and security services.  Dedicated psychiatry will be on-site 5 days a week on a rotational basis.